1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on an optical recording medium, for example a magneto-optical disk drive, a direct read after write drive (DRAW), a phase changing disk drive, CD-ROM or the like.
2. Related Art Statement
The disks for use in such an apparatus are provided with a protective layer (hereinafter, referred to as a cover glass) such as glass, resin (PC, PMMA or the like) formed on its side surface on which the reading light and the writing light are incident, in order to protect or guard the recording layer of the recording medium. This cover glass has different thicknesses in accordance with the types of the disk, even in the same DRAW disk. For example, the thicknesses of the disks are 1.2 mm for the magneto-optical disk, 1.2 m and 0.6 mm for the phase changing disk, and 1.2 mm and 0.09 mm for the standard DRAW disk of 356 mm.
An objective lens for use in an optical pick-up of the information recording and/or reproducing apparatus has generally a numeral aperture NA of 0.45-0.6, and is designed by taking aberration caused by the above descussed cover glass into consideration. On considering allowable level at the reading/writing property of the signal, in the case of the cover glass having a 1.2 mm thickness, the limit of the allowable level is in the order of xc2x10.05. If the allowable level exceeds this limit value, the reading/writing property of the signal becomes considerably deteriorated. If the reading/writing operation of the signal is performed by exchanging the disks having a different thickness of the cover glass, for example, the disk having 1.2 mm thickness of the cover glass and the disk having a 0.6 mm thickness of the cover glass, therefore, it is difficult to perform this reading/writing operation of the signal with one information recording and/or reproducing apparatus. That is, two information recording and/or reproducing apparatus must be required.
In order to remove the above defect, for example, Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 241,095/93 provides the feature of inserting parallel plates between a light source and a collimator to compensate a spherical aberration caused by the difference in thickness of the cover glass of the disk.
However, the optical pick-up disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 241,095/93 has a problem as follows.
For example, a spherical aberration component xcfx8940 of a coefficient of a wave front aberration and a value xcexd of the wave front aberration, which are caused, for example, in case of passing the light through the cover glass having thickness t can be obtained from xe2x80x9cOptics 14xe2x80x9d (1985), pp. 219-221 and expressed as follows:
xcfx8940=(t/8)xc2x7{(n2xe2x88x921)/n3}xc2x7NA4xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
xcexd=0.0745|xcfx8940|xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
wherein the numeral aperture of the objective lens is NA, and the refractive index is n. Therefore, in the pick-up having NA=0.55 and n=1.57 and using the light of wavelength xcex=780 nm, if the disk having the cover glass of t=1.2 mm is exchanged to the disk having the cover glass of t=0.6 mm, the spherical aberration of xcfx8940=0.00260, xcexd=0.248 xcexrms is generated.
While in case of compensating the above discussed spherical aberration by arranging the parallel plates for compensation between the light source and the collimator lens, if the numerical aperture at the light source side is NAxe2x80x2=0.25 and the refractive index is n=1.57, the thickness txe2x80x2 of the parallel plates is expressed as follows:
txe2x80x2={n3/(n2xe2x88x921)}xc2x7(8/NAxe2x80x24)xc2x7xcfx8940=14.07 mm
Moreover, in order to insert such thick parallel plates between the light source and the collimator lens, the light source must be moved by a following distance 1:
1=txe2x80x2(1xe2x88x921/n)=5.11 mm.
In such a way, the optical pick-up disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 241,095/93 requires a moving mechanism for inserting the compensating parallel plates and a mechanism for moving the light source in accordance with the insertion of the parallel plates, so that the construction of the apparatus becomes complicated and the optical system becomes large. In the reading/writing operation, moreover, the objective lens is moved with the following up of the eccentricity of the disk by a tracking servo, thereby causing non-coincidence of the light axis of the objective lens to the light axis of the collimator lens, resulting in a generation of comma aberration or astigmatism.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above described disadvantages of the conventional information recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus capable of performing the reading/writing operation for plural kinds of optical recording media having cover glasses of different thicknesses by means of a unity apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a light source; at least two objective lenses corresponding to at least two kinds of optical recording media having different thicknesses of a protective layer, respectively; a holder for supporting these objective lenses; a selection means for selecting these objective lenses in accordance with the optical recording medium; the light of the light source being illuminated on the optical recording medium through the objective lens selected by the selection means, thereby performing a recording and/or reproducing of the information.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a light source; an objective lens corresponding to an optical recording medium having a predetermined thickness of a protective layer; a holder for supporting the objective lens; an optical element for converting a wave front for an optical recording medium having a protective layer of thickness different from the above optical recording medium; a selection means for inserting the optical recording medium in an optical path between the objective lens and the optical recording medium, selectively and detachably, in accordance with the thickness of the protective layer of the optical recording medium to be recorded and/or reproduced for the information.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising; a light source; an objective lens for generating at least two light spots corresponding to at least two kinds of optical recording media having different thicknesses of a protective layer; a holder for supporting these objective lenses; the light from the light source being illuminated on the optical recording medium through the objective lens, thereby performing recording and/or reproducing of the information
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a light source; an objective lens corresponding to an optical recording medium having a predetermined thickness of a protective layer; a holder for supporting the objective lens; an objective lens drive means for driving the objective lens relatively for the optical recording medium; a correction optical element capable of displacing the lens unitedly, for compensating a spherical aberration for an optical recording medium having the thickness different from the above optical recording medium.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising a light source; two optical systems corresponding to two kinds of optical recording media having different thicknesses of a protective layer; a selection means for selecting these optical systems in accordance with the optical recording medium; characterized by comprising: the selection means for detecting the information provided on a cartridge having the optical recording medium accommodated therein, and for selecting either one of said two optical systems.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a light source; two optical systems corresponding to two kinds of optical recording media having different thicknesses of a protective layer; a selection means for selecting these optical systems in accordance with the optical recording medium; characterized by comprising: the selection means for detecting the position on the information recording surface of the optical recording medium and the thickness of the protective layer, and for selecting either one of said two optical systems.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a light source; at least two optical systems corresponding to at least two kinds of optical recording media having different thicknesses of a protective layer; a selection means for selecting these optical systems in accordance with the optical recording medium; the light from the light source being illuminated on the optical recording medium, thereby performing a recording and/or reproducing of the information; and a detection means for detecting which objective lens of said at least two objective lenses.
In an embodiment of the information recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the selection means includes at least a part of a lens drive means for controlling a relative position of the objective lens for the optical recording medium by displaying the objective lens in predetermined direction during the recording and/or reproducing of the information.
In this case, the construction becomes simple and the apparatus can be downsized and inexpensive.
In a preferable embodiment of the information recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the correction optical element is so constructed that it is intervened selectively in the optical path between the optical recording medium and the objective lens with the use of at least a part of a lens drive means for controlling a relative position of the objective lens for the optical recording medium by displaying the objective lens in predetermined direction during the recording and/or reproducing of the information.
Therefore, the construction becomes simple and the apparatus can be downsized and inexpensive.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the reading/writing operation can be performed for the plural kinds of the optical recording media in the single apparatus without causing the deterioration of the optical property due to the difference in thickness of the protective layer of the optical recording medium, by selecting the suitable objective lens with the selection means in accordance with kinds of the optical recording medium due to the thickness of the protective layer. The plural objective lenses are exchanged and selected in accordance with the kinds of the optical recording medium, so that the distance between the optical recording medium and the objective lens can be optionally selected as compared with the case of inserting the correction optical element between the objective lens and the optical recording medium, the objective lens having a small operating distance may be used, and the overall construction of the apparatus can be made thin.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the correction optical element capable of being displaced with the objective lens integrally is intervened selectively in the optical path between the optical recording medium and the objective lens in accordance with kinds of the optical recording medium due to the thickness of the protective layer, so that the reading/writing operation can be performed for the plural kinds of the optical recording media in the single apparatus without causing the deterioration of the optical property due to the difference in thickness of the protective layer of the optical recording medium. Moreover, the correction optical element is displaced with the objective lens integrally, so that they do not collide and thus the correction optical element can be positioned near the objective lens. Therefore, the objective lens having a small operating distance may be used, as compared with the case of inserting only the correction optical element always between the objective lens and the optical recording medium, and thus the overall construction of the apparatus can be made thin.